Wednesday, Sept. 22nd, 2010—Bar 255
Day 255—Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Iggy's Keltic Lounge
Alright, the PayPal donation bell has rung once again and I want to give thanks to Michael McDermott, Sr. who sent in a generous donation of 25 dollars and told me to buy some Alka Seltzer with it. Michael is the father of Mike “Pig Pen” McDermott who I met while visiting the Bohemian Beer Garden in Queens on stop number 232. He’s also the author of a great book that I purchased and suggest you do too. The title is: “Finders Keepers” and you can buy the book right here: “Finders Keepers” at Amazon. Thanks for the donation, Michael!
Okay, tonight is another suggestion from Miami commentator Al Rizo. Al’s made many suggestions and they’ve all been winners. Today he found a bar on the Lower East Side I’ve never heard of called, Iggy’s Keltic Lounge. From the reviews I’ve read it sounds like it’s one part Irish bar, one part punk rock and one part dive bar. Sounds like Al picked another winner, let’s go find out.
This looks like the place, let's check it out.
Here's some of the specials of the night, posted outside.
Nice and dark inside, looks like Al has come through once again!
And bartender Pirate Mike serves up an ice-cold can of Pabst. Arrrgghh! Mike is also an actor and you can check out his resume here: Michael Whitney.
Here's a full shot of the bar.
The beer prices are posted on this board overlooking the bar.
These fellows are perched up at the top of the bar. And note: Tin ceiling!
Let's go check out who these two women are at the end of the bar.
It's the lovely Athena and Jenna who were chilling out and enjoying a drink or two at the end of the bar.
Nicky and Chris were sitting at the front of the bar and liked the 365 bar crawl idea. Cheers, guys!
There's a nice selection on the jukebox including: The Pogues, The Misfits, Joy Division and Chuck Berry.
There's a pirate lounge in the back.
It's a cozy, candle-lit, brick-walled back room.
This guy makes sure the beer is pouring constantly.
I've got a feeling this is Pirate Mike's favorite painting in the bar.
A shot from the end of the candle-lit bar.
Some of the lit-up bottles behind the bar.
Josh, Kristina and Leslie were seated next to me at the bar and posed for the 365 camera. It turns out that Josh and I have a common friend in New York artist, Ryan McGinness.
At the end of the night, Pirate Mike bought me a shot. Cheers and arrrrghh!
And so it's time to head out the door onto Ludlow Street.
Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Iggy’s Keltic Lounge is only about one third an Irish bar. It’s also about one third punk rock bar and one third dive bar. Throw in a skeleton or two for a bit of a pirate feel and you’ve got Iggy’s. Okay, you had to be there, sometimes words fail me. But trust me, Iggy’s is a nice, dark bar with a relaxing and comfortable vibe with friendly bartenders and patrons alike. The horseshoe bar is located in the center with booths off to the front and side and a pirate's lounge in the back with candle-lit tables and brick walls.
They have a full bar with a good selection of bottled beer including: Red Stripe, Magners, Chimay, Duvel and Corona. Happy hour runs daily from 1pm to 9pm with three dollar drafts, two buck cans of Pabsts and four dollar well drinks.
According to the internet rumors, the weekend crowd gets a bit of a frat-hall feel, so I suggest you stop by on a Tuesday night, when Pirate Mike is behind the wheel.
Iggy's Keltic Lounge
132 Ludlow St. (Near Rivington St.)
212-529-2731
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Bonus Photos
Last Saturday I mentioned the debut of a new online magazine called Grade “A” Fancy. Well they threw a party last night at the Rum House which I visited months ago and is going to be closing soon. I was invited, but sadly I had to work and by the time I was going to be done, I was told the party was going to be over. But just around the same time I got the invitation, I got an email from Lex, who just has discovered the 365 bar crawl and was coming to New York last night to visit with her in-laws. She sent me an email asking if she could join me on the bar crawl and we discovered our schedules wouldn’t allow it, but she did agree to be my stand-in for the Grade “A” Fancy party and take pictures. And so, here they are! Thanks for being my stand in Lex and maybe next time you’re in town we can meet in person. In the mean time, take it away, Lex!
I'm starting at the end of the evening, because this is my favorite picture from the night. Suzanne is a jewelery designer friend of Karen's and Jon. Karen and Jon are the creators of Grade "A" Fancy. After lamenting the demise of places like the Rum House in Times Square, we found this great backdrop for a photo op.
Here’s Gaylord and Nancy at the Rum House.
Suzanne and Karen.
This building has a mention in Grade "A" Fancy - only fitting to get a shot!
Andy gave me a handful of restaurant business cards to me, suggesting places to take my in-laws while we're in the city.
This is Patty the bartender serving a Manhattan to Janie.
And of course the obligatory bathroom mirror shot!
Thanks, Lex, you did a great job of standing in for me at the party and being our 365 corrsepondent! I hope next time you’re in town we can meet for a drink in person. Thanks to Karen and Jon, the creators of Grade “A” Fancy for throwing a wonderful party!
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And now a request from Tim Clack: "Friggion' in the Riggin'" by the Sex Pistols (With Ronnie Biggs on lead vocals. I think.)
And Jaws suggest this one, enjoy mateys...arrrghhh!
And cheers and R.I.P. to Malcolm Douglas.
40 References
Reader Comments (37)
@Tim Clack: I know about Talk Like A Sailor Day, and if I would've known the pirate theme here I would've gone there then. Arrrgghh! I'll put the request up later when I get home. As we all know by now, YouTube is blocked here at work. Jaws has one too. Oh and Raginrr doesn't live in the city, but that would be cool if he made the trip, he's been threatening to do so! And you're right, the Grade "A" Fancy interview with a martini is great, everyone should go over and check it out.
@Fitzy: To Al! He never fails!
@raginrr: Cheers to Al indeed! And I'm pretty sure it wasn't around for the battle of the bars, but you're right, it would've been perfect!
tim...hope i & 365 can get it together...he has got to do his thing and all...i'm actually dieing a lot northeast of "the city"...hope to shake your hand...KOC
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@clacky, fuck! thats it, thanks mate...would have fucked my day up trying to think of that.....
@raginrr, sorry mate, great plan of attack, but i cant make it till next summer....1.i have business commitments here (other than Barry & the koala plight) that wont be finalised till jan....2.my 1st port of call when i go back will be to get up to Kodiak Island & have a bo-peep at their brown bears when the salmon are running....then i have a little friend i have to visit in Canada, will take a few weeks making my way across there....Niagara Falls will be a must see....(haha, did you here they just bought out a female version of Viagara? they are calling it "Niagara"...sorry could'nt help that one)....finally i'll make it down to have a session or 2 with marty in NYC, probably round july.....plus i dont want to miss our summer down here...& clacky hope you are packing some thermal undies/long johns, i was in South Dakota last oct & it was that cold i swear it would have froze the balls off a brass monkey.....
but all that said raginrr, we'll keep in touch & hopefully meet up when i FINALLY get there....i got to try & get marty out in the sun a bit more, get him a little aclimatised before he comes down here....haha, this could be a big job!
365...fuck you...you devoted your scrabbled tomb...to battle of the bars....thursday in "99"...shit "iggy's" vs 'iggy's kick ass bar"....,"duke's"was the winner...never really figured that one out....damn i'm really slow or just retarded...you should hear what my ol' kady calls me when she finds out that i sent 365 a dollar or or two....KOC
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@raginrr: You're living up to your name tonight! There were two Iggy's in 99, but neither one was this one. Iggy Stardust diner!
that's it. you have totally proved that bars with tin ceilings rock!
@Fitzy: I'm an encyclopedia when it comes to useless trivia. Any time mate!...and yes got the thermals ready to rock...my friend is even knitting me a scarf.
@Fitzy: Malcom Douglas died in a car accident this morning up in Broome.
For those who've never heard of him he was the original Crocodile hunter waaayyy before Steve Irwin and was a wildlife film maker and legendary bush cook.
@Tim Clack: R.I.P. Malcolm Douglas.
RIP Mal Douglas....cheers ol' mate....
I LOVE THIS BAR !!!! :D Woow wooow !!! I love Pirate, and I'm a parrot !!!! By the way, Thanks Jaws for stucking back that song in my head LOL Jason posted it in my FB wall one time and couldn't stop to sing it !!! So today the regular at the Kebab place where I'm working are going to enjoy it !! HAHA
Mike is the coolest funniest bartender ! I vote for him!! I like how it looks inside the bar, Rock'n roll !
Oh and my sister did a genealogy Tree family, and I come from a Pirate family called "Turpin". They terrorized the Brittany 2 centuries ago ;) Also I'm happy that my Dad is going to dress up like a pirate for the marriage :D Because few years ago he created a Pirate Bar-restaurant called "Captain' Crab" but unfortunattely he had to close 2 years ago.
Cool shot from Grade "A" Fancy !! To Lex !
I've been here a few times ... it's a cool spot ... but try to go during "off peak" hours. It's a complete madhouse on a Friday/Saturday night !
Iggy's is a very cool place! It sure looks like a lot of fun to visit....love the pirate theme.
Thanks for the bonus crawl pictures.
Great job Lex Bayley and great job Marty!
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